Every family has their unique traditions when celebrating Thanksgiving. Some families have special stuffing recipes that have been passed down for ages. Others make all the kids draw hand turkeys while dinner is cooking – no matter how old the kids are… By and large, however, the one tradition that runs as a common thread is that of the turkey dinner. But what about families that choose to leave turkey off the menu at Thanksgiving? What would that sort of holiday look like?

Well, for actor Jesse Eisenberg, it’s the celebration of “Thanksliving.” Sitting down with Conan O’Brien, Jesse explains that in his family, they forgo the traditional turkey in favor of tofu and devote the meal to the animals they’re saving by not eating turkey.

The fact is, most people who eat turkey on this holiday have NO CLUE what sort of lives their “meals” lived and if they did – as Jesse suggests – they wouldn’t be so keen to dive in. But the good news is, you don’t need to have a turkey on the table to partake in Thanksgiving as there are many, many, many plant-based alternatives you can choose instead.

So while you might not want to endure an hour-long speech on the horrific and short lives that turkeys in factory farms go through – you can celebrate your own little Thanksliving with some awesome vegan recipes instead. Surely, if Conan checked out the options for a plant-based spread, he wouldn’t find it to be as “horrible” as he thinks.

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GAL GADOT CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION?!?!??! I figured out I'm the real Clark Kent so like Henry Cavill is playing me i Man of Steel. But I wrote to tell you guys this and no one replied to me. HEY! WTF?! What I'm wondering is why everyone ignores Kobzane. What I'm saying is like if you were making a movie about someone and the person who you were making the movie about wrote to you wouldn't you like... write back to them? So what is the deal with how they all ignored Kobzane even though he is the real Superman? GAL WHY ARE THEY MAKING MOVIES ABOUT ME BUT WON'T RESPOND IF I WROTE THEM A QUESTIONS?!?!?

I'm glad Conan brought it up the way he did because that is how people think about it because it gave Jesse the limelight to speak about it and he did it in such an educated loving inspiring way and I bet he got the wheels turning in some people's mind. I like how they had a great convo on the subject, but he didn't diss Conan which might make him think about it. Planted a seed! The worst thing that can happen is when people don't want to talk about it at all.
Also he brought up a good point about tofu shaped like a turkey. I can see how people would find that hypocritical and never thought about it before.
And I prefer not to eat tofurkey. It doesn't look good, but I can't judge I guess since I never tried it.
I can't wait to make my cranberry lentil veggie balls and my veggie loaf pastry bread. There are many options beyond tofu!

I think they make it looked like a turkey for vegans and non vegans to have an idea of what it was intended for ; replacing a dead bird. Seconde, it is simply for a taste reference. 99.9% were omnivore before selecting a plant based diet. When you learn to cook for yourself and family, they want a burger or a spaghetti bolognese etc... Hi everyone I have made tonight a piece of dough with veggies and tomatoes and nut spread come eat! Do you know what is it? No! well I just made a vegan pizza. The reason is very simple. EASIER! Everyone knows what I am talking about when I say pizza. Don't you think? Only omnivores gets upset with these! And by the way I have had a tofurky and tastes just as good as it looks!!! On holidays, I prefer cooking from scratch!

Cindy Aase

1 Years Ago

This could have gone better. It's difficult to tell if Jesse is uncomfortable or just not that committed after stupid remarks by Conan.